George R.R. Martin thought Game Of Thrones should have been "at least" 10 seasons
Martin had "no contribution" to later GOT, but has "more influence" over House Of The Dragon
If you were dissatisfied with how Game Of Thrones rushed to the finish line, you are not alone. George R.R. Martin, who himself has been dragging out the end of the series for many years now, felt like the production could have slowed down a little (or a whole lot).
“I was saying it needs to be 10 seasons at least and maybe 12, 13. I lost that one,” he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately for Martin (and legions of fans disappointed by the show’s finale), he “had no contribution to the later seasons except, you know, inventing the world, the story and all the characters.”
Who knows if the major Thrones players would have stuck around for that many years (Kit Harrington, at least, has demonstrated his long-term commitment to Jon Snow in developing a sequel series). Given the nature of the beast, the actors supposedly could have opted for a gruesome death if they ever wanted out.
In any case, pacing is presumably something that now falls under the writer’s purview, as Martin tells the outlet, “I believe I have more influence now [on House Of The Dragon] than I did on the original show.” He’s spoken before about his involvement in the world of Westeros and whether he’s the George Lucas, Gene Roddenberry, or Stan Lee of his personal cinematic universe.
And while Marvel is the oft-cited comparison for the growing GOT franchise, Martin is taking cues from unexpected places. “Another model that I think was interesting was the old Mary Tyler Moore Show,” he says in a recent New York Times interview. “That show generated a number of spin-offs: There was Rhoda, about her friend. Phyllis got her own show. And the one that really excited me was Lou Grant. They took this character from a sitcom and they made him the hero of a serious journalism show. That’s pretty amazing to take a character who is a comic foil and make him the center of a serious show. I’d like to see a range in our shows.”
In summary: you can expect the GOT-verse to include series under a range of genres that last for a decade-plus. Hope that Iron Throne doesn’t rust!